Nothing is worse than planning a celebratory dinner in your new home and finding the oven doesn’t work. How can you ensure this doesn’t happen?
The last thing you think about when making an offer for a property is the condition of the chattels (like the oven). These are listed in the agreement and are often breezed over. When the oven doesn’t work when you go to use it, there isn’t much that can be done if you haven’t thought about it when you signed the agreement.
If the chattels aren’t in the same condition as they were when you signed the agreement, you can try to seek a solution from the vendor.
Our best advice is that you should check chattels, such as the oven or the garage door opener, before you sign. If they don’t work, you can remedy this by including a clause.
You are entitled to check the chattels before settlement. It’s too late to raise issues that weren’t issues when you signed, but it isn’t too late to check that nothing has changed. This is your only opportunity to try and get something fixed before you have to pay for the property.
Any issues after settlement can either be addressed by contacting us or through the Disputes Tribunal. The far easier way, however, is to make sure everything works before you sign and double-check that it still works before you settle.